Electric massager with spring mount



Jan. 23, 1968 AKIHIKO TERANISHI 3,364,922

ELECTRIC MASSAGER WITH SPRING MOUNT Filed April 23. 1965 INVENTOR AK/H/Ka Tzemwsm ATTORNEYS United States Patent ()fiice 3,364,922 Patented Jan. 23, 1968 3,364,922 ELECTRIC MASSAGER WITH SPRING MOUNT Akihiko Teranishi, Nagoya, Japan, assignor to Kabushiki Kaisha Teranishi Denki Seisakusho, Nishikamo-gun, Aichi-Prefecture, Japan Filed Apr. 23, 1965, Ser. No. 450,383 Claims priority, application Japan, Mar. 12, 1965, IO/19,588 1 Claim. (Cl. 128-36) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An electric massaging device comprising a head provided with flexible projections of different sizes positioned in a specified pattern and vibrated by a weight rotated about an eccentric axis by a driving motor, said head and weight being connected to said driving motor by spring means mitigating the transmission of vibrations from the head to the motor.

This invention relates to an improved electric massager. Its objective is to ofler a new two-part electric massager utilizing reciprocating motion and capable of freely and selectively massaging either the surface of head, face and other areas of the skin, or the underlying muscles of the shoulder, back, hand, and foot, etc.

Another objective of the invention is to protect the prime mover by substantially mitigating the vibration transmitted thereto from the vibratory parts of an electric massager.

Still another objective of the invention is to provide a massaging head which can penetrate deeply to massage the muscles Without excessive rubbing of the skin.

The construction and advantages of the present invention will be clear from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawing of a concrete embodiment of the proposed electric massager.

In the attached drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a side view, partly in axial section, showing my new vibrator;

FIGURE 2 is a partial schematic developmental view showing the arrangement of the lateral projections 15; and

FIGURE 3 is an end view showing the arrangement of the top projections.

Referring now to FIG. 1, the shaft 2 of motor 1 is connected through a tightly coiled helical spring 3 and a joint 16 to the shaft 5 which is supported rotatably in the vibrator 4. The vibrator shaft 5 is rotatably supported in the bearing 7 of the top member 6 of the vibrator 4 and in the bearing carried by the bottom member 9 which is screwed at 8 onto the lower edge of the top member 6. The bearing 10 is fixed to the bottom member 9 and projects therefrom toward the motor 1. The bearing 10 is connected to the casing for the motor 1 by a sparsely coiled spring 11. The spring has the effect of protecting the motor by mitigating the transmission of vibrations from the vibrator 4 to the motor 1 while facilitating the vibration of vibrator 4, and is more tightly coiled near its ends than at the middle.

Within the hollow head formed by the top member 6 and bottom member 8, is a Weight 12 fixed to the shaft 5. The hole in the weight through which the shaft passes is eccentrically located, so that the rotation of the weight 12 causes vibration of the vibrator 4. The surface of the hollow head is covered with a sheath of resilient material 13, such as rubber. The top surface, i.e., the surface of said covering material remote from the shaft is provided with closely spaced thin, short, flexible projections 14. On the other hand, at the sides, i.e., on the cylindrical surface of the hollow head is provided with more widely spaced relatively thick, long projections 15.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, said large and small projections 14, 15 are located at the apices of equilateral triangles.

As described above, the top surface of the vibrator 4 is nearly flat and the projections 14 embedded in this surface are flexible, small and closely spaced. Therefore these projections touch the head, face and other tender parts of the skin with adequate pressure, and flex to fit the contours of these parts, so that an extremely good massaging effect is produced.

By contrast, the projections 15 on the cylindrical surface are stiff, thick and long so that they can transmit strong vibrations deeply into the muscles. Further, since both big and small projections are located at the apices of equilateral triangles, all parts of the skin and muscles can be evenly worked.

What is claimed is:

1. Electric massager comprising a hollow cylindrical vibrator head having an end surface provided with closely spaced flexible, small projections and a cylindrical surface provided with relatively thick, large and long projections, said large and small projections being arranged at the apices of equilateral triangles, a motor mounted in a casing, a shaft rotatably mounted in said hollow vibrator head and connected to a flexible shaft driven by said motor, and a weight fixed to said vibrator shaft and eccentrically positioned relative thereto, and a spring wound tightly at both ends and sparsely at its central portion which connects said vibrator head to said casing.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 859,674 7/1907 Lindstrom 128 36 3,314,417 4/1967 Starre et a1 12836 FOREIGN PATENTS 213,040 9/ 1909 Germany.

LAWRENCE W. TRAPP, Primary Examiner. 

